DRDGold to commission Far West Gold Recoveries

Bullion producer DRDGOLD concluded its acquisition of Far West Gold Recoveries, previously the West Rand Tailings Retreatment Project, from Sibanye-Stillwater at the end of July. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency (ANA)

JOHANNESBURG – Listed gold tailings mining company DRDGold will commission Phase 1 of its Far West Gold Recoveries project on Thursday, it said on Tuesday.

DRDGold chief executive, Niël Pretorius said in a statement that the project was on track to achieve full production of 500 000 tons per month from Phase 1 in the first quarter of 2019.

DRDGold concluded its acquisition of Far West Gold Recoveries, previously the West Rand Tailings Retreatment Project, from Sibanye-Stillwater at the end of July.

The company said material would be pumped from the Driefontein 5 dam through a new 2km pipeline to the Driefontein 2 plant. A parallel pipeline to return water from the plant to the reclamation site has been completed.

“Work to upgrade the plant’s retreatment capacity is well advanced, with carbon loading –also part of the overall commissioning process – set to begin immediately,” the company said.

DRDGold concluded its acquisition of Far West Gold Recoveries, previously the West Rand Tailings Retreatment Project, from Sibanye-Stillwater at the end of July 2018.